Saving a Superhero

10: Nova City+Pie

When we stepped off the train in the early morning rush of Nova City, I couldn't feel any more miserable. Thick, black clouds wept in the sky, bathing the city in their tears. Raindrops blurred the city lights and my glasses. Every inch of my sweatshirt was soaked within a minute of standing in the downpour. With a resigned sigh, I took off my blurred and splotchy glasses and hid them in my purse. There was no use wearing them if I couldn't see. The world blurred a little more, but I could still make out the faces of Rory, Kennedy, and Harper as we ran across the slippery pavement of the train station and into the nearest store we could find.

It was one of those chain mom and pop stores that felt all warm and cozy but was really a tourist trap. Your first trip to Nova City? How about a mug with a map of the district on it. Need a gift for your friend that you forgot to pick up and now you are on your way out of town? Everyone loves a shirt with a picture of New Star district. Nevermind the confusing combination of alien looking space pod homes and parks. Yes, it does actually look like that. Come back soon and don't mind our alarming rise in crime.

The rain had left us dripping on the worn welcome mat with hair plastered against our forehead. It wasn't the warm kind of rain I liked to dream about. It was the kind that chilled you to the bone and made your joints ache.

The store, though offering relief from the cold storm outside and the businessmen and tourists, did nothing to protect us from the humidity. By the end of the day, my hair was going to be the mess of frizz and half-formed curls. It had been when I lived in the city. Harper's hair, which was already natural and untameable, was growing.

"What do we do now?" Kennedy asked.

None of us answered for a moment. Instead, we contented ourselves with watching the umbrellas passing through the store window. Rory sucked in a breath and suggested we wait out the storm and hope we find another clue from Grace.

The air was filled with cold silence as we waited for the rest of her plan. She didn't offer anything more. Since Kennedy's outburst the night before it had taken coaxing and prodding to get her to say anything.

"If we're not doing anything, I know a place we can go," I offered. My attempts to disguise the smile that stretched across my face were in vain.

"Juliet," Harper cautioned me. "We aren't here to visit family and friends, not until after we get this mess sorted out. We need to find Grace first."

"I'm not talking about going home. That's on the other side of the city and Mom and Dad are probably working. I'm talking about a place with the best hot cider you have ever tried."

The three groaned. It almost sounded comical. They had never seemed to appreciate my love of food, but after a bit of pleading, some begging, and--in a few special cases--threatening, we had purchased a few umbrellas and caught a cab to Crystal's Diner."

We arrived at a real Mom and Pop store. It was located in Queen Plaza, the tourist center of the city with the White Palace Resort the proud center. We took the third exit of the massive roundabout that surrounded the hotel. The further we got from the bright billboards and neon signs, the more the crowds thinned. We kept going until we were at the edge of Old Terrace, my home district.

The diner was on the bottom story of one of the city's famous red brick buildings. The structure had come straight out the industrialization period and probably had a failing infrastructure, but so did most of the old districts.

By the time we found a seat in the empty diner, I was drooling. It had been so long since I had Crystal's pie and the smell was intoxicating. Even the others finally looked convinced that I had brought them to the best breakfast spot in town. I knew for a fact that none of them had ever been here. I had a monopoly on it every morning before school when we lived our scheduled lives and my prompting to grab lunch here separately was always met with deaf ears.